Soliel - the Perfect Orange Cake

Today is a great morning because I got to bring this cake to work that I've been research, buying things for and making for the past 4 days.  Paul says it has consumed me.  This may be slightly true.  But enough about that...on to THE CAKE! (I feel that it needs a name...not a name like Jen's Perfect Masterpiece but something more like Soliel (a French name for "sun" - fitting as most of the recipes are from Julia Child!). But I'm not that obsessed, so we'll skip the name and stick with "the cake.")

The cake has two layers of orange sponge cake, one layer of yellow butter cake, two layers of orange curd filling, and Cointreau butter cream frosting - garnished with fresh orange slices (and curled orange rind).  So you see - "the cake" is just not a sufficient name.  And since you can't see it in person or taste it, I'll tell you all about it.  After all, I have to record my 4 days of research/planning/baking somewhere!

Like I said, the cake has three layers, two are orange sponge cake which i think is fabulous because it is light (in weight, in flavor, in consistency) and delicious!  The orange kind of makes it taste healthy and the cake part makes it like a sweet indulgence!  It is more substantial than angel-food cake, but much lighter than and fluffier than normal cake. (The technical explanation is that I beat and whisked lots of air into the batter and then delicately folded it all together and quickly popped it in the oven.)

The third layer is a yellow butter cake - it is only there because I wanted to try the recipe.  I watched the Cake Love video on making that cake like 3 times. Before you think eh, butter cake? let me tell you that it only has that name because of its appearance (not its ingredients) and it is only yellow because of the egg yolks.  It tastes good but it is much heavier (weight and density, slightly like a pound cake.) and it has a shiny buttery look.  (But it doesn't taste like butter...it has a hint of vanilla and the bourbon I put in it! Haha).

The filling between the three layers of cake is an orange curd. (You are so from Wisconsin, putting curds in your cake!) This sounds gross, but it is a lot like lemon curd - which isn't really curd at all.  It is somewhere between a jelly and a frosting - like the jelly filling in a great doughnut.  Then the cake is topped with an orange butter cream frosting, flavored with some Cointreau.  The last few times I made the frosting (which involves boiling sugar, stirring over simmering water, over ice, and then quickly mixing...in short: it is a very complex frosting.) So the last few times I made it I cooked the sugar too long and ended up with a darker more caramelized frosting (which is delicious but more difficult to make).  This time I aced the recipe - but the frosting is very yellow from the butter and tasted pretty buttery...until I threw in an extra tablespoon of Cointreau :)  The butter color and flavor are not bad - I buy my butter fresh from a particular guy in the market and I've done my share of reading up on butter (inspired by a 2008 New York Times article).  I'm going to say it was the good butter and the fresh Orange that gave it the color.

As you can see, I have put a lot into this cake and have learned a ton.  The payout of all of this is a delicious cake that I am so proud of.  (As a sophomore in college I would have been very offended if you told me I would one day be proud of a cake that I made.)  Technically there are 20 servings but I think you would be hard pressed to get 20 pieces (they will be small) - which brings me to today:  I brought the cake to work and hid it in a small refrigerator on a floor where only 4 people work (one of them being my best friend here).  People are already asking how the cake turned out, telling me they saw me come in with it this morning, and asking what time the cake is coming out.  Do you see where this is going?  There are more than 20 people who literally want a share in the cake.  An honor - but it also means that I may only get 2 bites (half of Paul's small piece...he takes big bites). But do you really think I've been researching and planning for 4 days to only have two bites?  No!  That is why I shaved off a little from the middle and tasted it last night!  In addition to giving my friend a cake for his birthday it was lots of fun, a learning opportunity, friends will like me more, lots positive attention, and by the time you split the cake into all those pieces:  only 40 calories.  :)

*Three side-notes which I couldn't fit in:  1.  The butter article also inspired my orange Christmas cookies which are prominently featured...not my cookies, but the original recipe; 2.  This is a much improved version of the cake from the last posting which was only 2 layers, back in the day before I aced the recipe; 3. Greg saw the cake on Skype last night and said it looked like it belongs in a magazine!  He is my favorite for being the first to inflate my fluffy butter cream ego :)  I really hope no one sets their lunch on top of the cake before we bring it out!

Epilogue:  Of course everyone loved the cake!  Our friend cut really thin pieces (which was okay because it was so tall) and about 20 people had some (including the big boss!).  The biggest compliments were a.) asking for the recipes, b.) a few people sneaking in a second piece, c.) 3 people wiping up the frosting and filling from the tray (with their fingers!) and d.) two colleagues saying I should sell my cakes!  :)  Maybe I'll practice a few more times before I do that.